1979 Champion Spark Plug 400


The 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place on August 19, 1979, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Background

is a four-turn superspeedway that is long. Opened in 1968, the track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the 3,600-foot-long front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees. The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long.

Race report

There were 36 American-born male drivers on the grid.
Richard Petty defeated Buddy Baker by one second in essentially a fuel mileage race that determined whoever could preserve the most amount of fuel. There were 21 lead changes and five caution flags for 35 laps; making the race three hours and four minutes long. David Pearson earned the pole position with a speed of while the average speed was. Blackie Wangerin would receive the last-place finish due to a crash with H.B. Bailey on lap 2 which resulted in Wangerin's car flipping outside of the track. John Anderson got his only top five finish in his Cup debut.
Al Rudd, Jr. would race his only NASCAR event here. The entire purse was $142,905. Notable crew chiefs for this race were Buddy Parrott, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, Darrell Bryant, Dale Inman, Harry Hyde, Bud Moore, Tim Brewer, and Jake Elder.

Qualifying

Failed to qualify: Jan Opperman

Finishing order

  1. Richard Petty
  2. Buddy Baker
  3. Benny Parsons
  4. David Pearson
  5. John Anderson
  6. Joe Millikan
  7. Ricky Rudd
  8. Tighe Scott
  9. J.D. McDuffie
  10. Richard Childress
  11. Bill Elliott
  12. James Hylton
  13. Kyle Petty
  14. Tommy Gale
  15. John Kennedy
  16. Frank Warren
  17. Cale Yarborough*
  18. Cecil Gordon
  19. Darrell Waltrip
  20. Buddy Arrington*
  21. Baxter Price
  22. Jimmy Means
  23. Bobby Allison*
  24. Ronnie Thomas*
  25. Harry Gant*
  26. Terry Labonte*
  27. Marty Robbins*
  28. D.K. Ulrich
  29. Dick Brooks*
  30. Dave Marcis*
  31. Lennie Pond*
  32. Al Rudd, Jr.*
  33. Neil Bonnett*
  34. Earle Canavan*
  35. H.B. Bailey*
  36. Blackie Wangerin*
* Driver failed to finish race

Standings after the race